The Two Floors

Hollowmere Hall · Christmas Eve · a house on two floors · Difficulty: Chief 10 · 16×16

Christmas Eve at Hollowmere Hall. When the carols end, old Veronica – the host’s mother – is found dead in the Master Bedroom upstairs. Sixteen people were in the house, spread over its two floors, and the plan shows both: the upper floor above, the ground floor below, every upstairs room lying directly above the ground-floor room with the same outline. The house is old and its floorboards creak: whoever stood in the Study, directly below the Master Bedroom, heard the struggle. Read the statements – many of them talk about the room above or below the speaker – find everyone’s square and unmask the murderer: alone with Veronica in the Master Bedroom.

Rules

Two floors: rows 1–8 are the upper floor, rows 9–16 the ground floor. Each upstairs room lies directly above the ground-floor room with the same outline (Landing above the Great Hall, Blue Room above the Salon, Nursery above the Dining Room, Servants’ Room above the Kitchen, Picture Gallery above the Library, Sewing Room above the Conservatory, Master Bedroom above the Study, Tower Bedroom above the Chapel). “The room above/below mine” always means that paired room – it says nothing about rows or columns.
The floorboards creak: the person in the Study, directly below the Master Bedroom, heard the struggle – so the Study was not empty.
Every row and every column holds exactly one person – the rows and columns run through both floors. As soon as you place someone, cross out their whole row and column.
“Beside” = directly left, right, above or below on the plan, and in the same area. Squares with furniture cannot be occupied, except the chairs, armchairs, the sofa, the chaise longue, the benches and the stool.
Directions refer to rows and columns, not to the same line: “exactly one row north of him” = in the row directly above on the plan, in any column.
The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

Alistair (the host): He was alone in his area, and he was the only one beside a desk.
Bianca (his wife): She was beside the altar. Exactly one row south of her was a man.
Ciaran (their son): The room below his held exactly one woman.
Delphine (opera singer): She was alone in her area, beside a wardrobe; the room below hers held exactly one person.
Ernest (banker): Exactly one row north of him was a woman.
Faye (aviator): She was in row 7. Exactly one row south of her was a man.
Gregory (doctor): He was in a corner of his area.
Hattie (novelist): She was in the Library, in column 4. Irwin was in the room above hers.
Irwin (archaeologist): He was in column 2. Exactly one row south of him was a woman.
Juliet (cousin): She was in row 2. Exactly two rows south of her was a member of staff.
Keith (butler): Juliet was in the room above his – she was the only woman up there.
Lorna (cook): She was in a corner of her area. Exactly one row south of her was a woman.
Miles (chauffeur): He was beside a bench; the room above his held exactly one woman.
Nora (maid): She was alone in her area, in column 15. Exactly one row south of her was a woman.
Otto (gamekeeper): The room above his held exactly one woman.
Veronica (the host’s mother): The victim. She was found in the Master Bedroom, beside the wardrobe – alone with the murderer.

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